topic Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts in Rebuilding Your Credit

Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

gettingsmarter — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:55:34 GMT

Hi Everyone! Brand New Here.

Just paid off all of my collection accounts in the last 2 days. I had only about $2300 in total debt and was able to negotiate and pay it all off.

What happened with me is I finally got brave enough to actually check my scores and see what was on my credit report. I knew it was going to be bad. I don't know if anyone else has had a problem with avoiding the truth like this but I would get white envelopes from collection agencies and I would put them in a drawer so I didn't have to acknowledge that they existed. Sometimes the amount wasn't even that bad but it was enough that I wasn't able to pay them off right away and calling/making arrangements would have meant that I would have to admit that I had a problem and it was really hard for me. It feels good to have faced my problem and to know that I wont get myself into this situation again. It's really embarrassing to admit I'm a 38 year old woman and I have bad credit. And it got so bad that I don't even have a major credit card - just a debit card. My friends at work would never guess. I make a good living now thanks to a new career path in the last 2 years...and I have the appearance of having it all...but when I am out shopping with my friends and the clerk at the department store pushes and recommends saving "an extra 15% on today's purchase if you use your store charge" - I always have to say "no I don't have one".... to which my friends AND that darn clerk will always say "go ahead... just open one, it will only take a sec and you can just pay the bill as soon as it comes in...think of what you'll save"... then I start sweating and get really embarrassed knowing that I would never be approved...and have to say NO... so here I am trying to fix my mess! I can only go up from here I guess! It's time to be real - with myself.

So somehow I had the nerve to finally check what was on my credit report... first I went to freecreditreport.com and got the triple score,,, the commercials after all these years wore me down and I paid the $...and with one eye cracked I hit the button to finally see what I had been avoiding... this was just a few days ago

As of today 3/10/10 the scores are the same at freecreditreport.com

TU - 584

EX - 584

EQ - 589

Today I checked MYFico.com and it said

TU 578

EQ 610

strange that there is such a difference between the 2 sites!

I am wondering how paying my collections accounts off today will affect my score. Some say that paying collections accounts all at once will lower the score... esp. if I paid a "settlement offer" versus the total due

this is what was on my report (of course the status hasn't been updated because I just paid in the last day):

Old Utility bill (electric) from 2005 $163.40 - Paid 3/9/10

Old Utility Bill from 2004 $84.00 - : Paid 3/9/10

Capital One Visa went to collections in 2004 - balance $0 (bec went to CA)

Capital One MC went to Collections in 2004- balance $0 (Bec went to CA)

Portfolio Recovery Collections since 2009- Capital One Visa - Balance $1001.00 - Paid 3/10/10 settlement $633.40

Portfolio Recovery Collections since 2009- Capital One Visa - Balance $907.00 - Paid 3/10/10 settlement $540.00

Bank Of America went to Collections - Balance $0 (bec went to CA)

(Paid the CA $760.00 to satisfy - CA NOT on my report)

HSBC BAnk Visa went to collections - Balance $0 (bec went to CA)

(paid a CA to $360.00 satisfy - CA NOT on my report)

NCO FInancial CA reporting $314.00 unpaid Bank Of America Checking Account Overdraft - they are no longer holding the debt - 3/9/10 paid to another CA who bought the debt about 60 days ago but did not post their info to my credit report.

Auto Loan: Mazda American Credit opened Jan 2003 $20,800- Closed Sept 2008 (no repo! thank god) 30 days late 27 times, 60 days 1 time, 90 days 0 times. paid off, satisfied.

JCPenny Credit Card opened in 1995 still in good standing with a $124 limit - I forgot about this card for YEARS. I don't even have a jcpenny card in my possession nor do I shop there anymore.

$5800 State Of New Jersey Tax Lien dated 2007 - I have no idea what this is but I am now married and I am suspecting that it is related to my husband and his house or his income tax for the year 2007 - in 2008 he was told that there was an error on his income taxes for 2007 and this might be what is showing up on my report because we are married. I have printed a letter to mail to the state and ask to show proof of what this is tomorrow. It has no description on the report.

So with the exception of the $5800 tax lien that I know is not technically "mine" I have paid off everything. Some have been settled and agreed upon at a reduced fee and the full amount has been paid on others. As of today, I am completely free of collections. Will my score get better soon? Or will it get worse before it gets better?

I really need a new car soon and am wondering how my previous history with Mazda may help or hurt me. 27 times I was over 30 days... 1 time over 60...

sorry for the lengthy post... I wanted to be as detailed as I could so that someone could help me. Any and ALL advice & help would be greatly appreciated!

Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

Chris679 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:35:56 GMT

My story was very similar to yours. For years I ignored the problems despite having the money to pay them off whenever I wanted. Since I didn't need credit, I didn't worry, see no evil right! Feb 08 I ponied up my entire profit sharing check, $2100 bucks, and paid them all off. My scores back then were in the mid to upper 500 range and now I'm almost to 700. What I did was open a credit card and line of credit with my bank. Then once those were reporting, I got a Walmart card and a Cap One card (pretty easy to get). A few months later I got a car loan and then just made sure I paid on time every month and didn't open anything new. The whole time I disputed the negative items on my report with the bureaus. You should do this in writing, not with their "easy to use" online disputes. Its easy for you, but it makes it even easier for them. I got mine down to 3-4 negatives per report and I'm still working on it.

Good Luck,

Chris

Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

hoping2rebuild — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:02:48 GMT

I could be wrong about this but I don't think as far as scores etc that a paid collection is viewed diffrently from an unpaid one.

Did you do any PFD's on these if so then the collections coming off your report should help your score

Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

mocha76 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:29:50 GMT

gettingsmarter, welcome to the forums and congratulations on getting a handle on your debt. Check your private messages. I am going to give you contact info. on Portfolio Recovery. You should be able to send them a goodwill letter to get those deleted from your credit report. It is not guaranteed but a lot of people here have been having success with them lately. It worked for me.

Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:56:26 GMT

Also, check this out:

http://consumerist.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&limit=20&search=freecreditreport

You might want to consider a different product from the one you mentioned in your post

Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

Schoolbuskid — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:26:04 GMT

Its great that you paid debt that you owed, but i would of offered them PFD so that i wouldnt have been stuck with those negative accounts on my reports. If you are interested in getting them removed then start sending out GW letters. Good Luck!

Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:09:52 GMT

not going to lie, its comforting to know I was not the only one that had this problem. I checked my scores just the other day and i was at 519 with about 10 collection accounts and/or charged off accounts. Now I am ready to start writing out the checks to pay it all off! I havn't had any success with PIF's, but i will try again. If they dont accept it than i will probably just negotiate a settlement than GW every week and pray they will someday do something.

Oh, try applying for a secured card. I have one through OrchardBank the last 2 years. Its my only open credit line that I have had and will keep it that way till 100% my debts are paid off.

Good work lady!

Message Edited by meehan20 on 03-10-2010 08:09 AM

Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

ladygirl — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:16:57 GMT

Congradulations!!! Now I feel motivated to get started on mine.

TU-597

EQ-496

EX-510

These are my scores as of 3/10/10. My goal is to get to 700. Wish me luck!!!

Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

gettingsmarter — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:41:49 GMT

Thanks to everyone who has replied and continues to reply to my post. The info and advice offered in incredibly valuable. One question about GW letters. Should I be asking for them to delete the tradeline info ideally on my paid collections accounts OR do I want them to show the payments as ok and not late? Would deleting the info be a red flag and show as no payment history? Just curious as to how it would appear. - had no luck with PFD and its probably in part because I really didn't want to wait months and months to get everything paid and squared away. I guess now I can only try for GW.

Message Edited by gettingsmarter on 03-10-2010 12:39 PM

Message Edited by gettingsmarter on 03-10-2010 12:41 PM

Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:37:01 GMT

PFD's is key guys ... I sent out PFD letters every 10 days ... Doesn't cost but a piece of paper and a stamp CMRRR I don't feel is needed for PFD's, therefore, the cheapest option is to just unload a multitude of letters. The goal is to get the letter in the hands of someone *higher up* Each time I have successfully had a PFD, it came from management, not an agent!

Re: Just paid all of my Collections Accounts

Schoolbuskid — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:52:52 GMT

@gettingsmarter wrote:
Thanks to everyone who has replied and continues to reply to my post. The info and advice offered in incredibly valuable. One question about GW letters. Should I be asking for them to delete the tradeline info ideally on my paid collections accounts OR do I want them to show the payments as ok and not late?You can request that the lates be removed, or you can request that the whole account itself be deleted. It would be great if they remove only the lates, or the negative info. Would deleting the info be a red flag and show as no payment history?If the account is deleted their would be no record of it on your credit report. Just curious as to how it would appear. - had no luck with PFD and its probably in part because I really didn't want to wait months and months to get everything paid and squared away. I guess now I can only try for GW. Yes continue to send those GW letters. fMessage Edited by gettingsmarter on 03-10-2010 12:39 PM
Message Edited by gettingsmarter on 03-10-2010 12:41 PM